


Coffee Shop Strangers

by ImJohnLaurens



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: #bisexualAlex, #fluff, #gayJohn, #i will probably add more ships, #modernAU, #this is my first fic, Anthony Ramos - Freeform, Artist John, Coffee, Hamilton - Freeform, Lawyer Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda - Freeform, M/M, So i honestly don't know how this will turn out, Turtles, coffee shop AU, hamilton musical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-12 17:38:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10496166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJohnLaurens/pseuds/ImJohnLaurens
Summary: Based on a prompt 'forced to share a table at the coffee shop a couple of days in a row because crowded coffee shop and no room AU'Alexander Hamilton regularly gets coffee at his favourite coffee shop, until one day he bumps into a curly-haired stranger...





	1. Two strangers walk into a room, not-so diametrically opposed foes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic so I don't know how this will turn out! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! This is written in third person yet includes Alex's thoughts which would have been in italics but I don't think I can do that oops.

Hamilton reached for the door to his favourite coffee shop, one by his office that he frequented even when he was taking a (very short) break, only to find himself slamming into a man a bit taller than him. The stranger's curly hair smothered his face as he was about to begin yelling at him to watch where he was going; finally stepping back he looked into his face, 'One person should not be that strangely attractive,' because, as annoyed as he was, this man could compare to a god in Alexander's eyes. Shrugging this embarrassing thought to the back of his mind he glanced to the side, apologised and speed-walked to the line of people, also desperately tired on this cold, winter's morning. 'It’s never usually this busy!’ he thought aloud, 'I know right? The one time I come earlier, I just have to wait an hour for one cup of coffee!’, it was the man Alexander bumped into, nervous laughter escaped him as he tried to play it cool, 'calm down Alex, since when were you this gay?’ he thought to himself.

After 20 minutes, Alex had ordered his coffee, two shots of espresso, no milk or sugar. He liked it strong, made the day slightly bearable. When he snatched the coffee from the barista like it was a permanent cure for exhaustion he looked around for a seat, to his luck his favourite seat hadn't been taken- his unassigned assigned seat, if you may. Practically sprinting towards it he collapsed onto the wooden chair, it's red cushion already stained by years of this practice. 

As Alex took out his computer to write, he noticed the man he bumped into looking around in dismay upon realising there were no seats left. Taking a deep breath, Alex decided to wave him over. To his relief he saw the man's eyes light up in joy, a grin across his face that left him flushed, 'I should really stop getting crushes on people just because they're the first person I talk to in a week,’ he mused. 'Thank you so much, all I wanted was a simple latte yet I had to stand in a line for half an hour only to be caught out by the severe lack of seating in here!’ his voice was soft and cheerful, Hamilton had never seen someone so happy to be awake at 9am, 'I’m still so sorry about running into you, I'm just tired.’ 'Oh no, don't worry, I'm… yeah I'm fine, I understand,’ stuttered Alex, now he had time to observe him up-close, he noticed the freckles sprinkled over his face like glitter, patchy, yet in an organised manner, his brown hair rolled down his face onto his shoulders, like a waterfall of perfect curls, Alex couldn't help but admire him. 

When he realised he had probably stared for too long, he tried to conjure up any form of polite conversation, 'So, what's your name? You've sat at my table, you must introduce yourself!’ 'Was that too forward? I hope not,' he thought, a wave of momentary panic flooding his senses.  
'Oh, but of course, my name's John, John Laurens!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was at least slightly good! If there are any grammatical errors please feel free to correct me! I hope to update this as regularly as possible but I'll just see how many people actually read this! Please tell me what you thought of this and hopefully I can make the next chapter better! Also I just realised how short this was oops, well, it's only an intro so it doesn't matter, right?


	2. In the Place to Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Another chapter! Still quite short but I'm trying! I'll try to upload daily but this weekend I might not be able to. Yet again, feedback is greatly appreciated and thank you so much for those wonderful comments!

'Laurens? I'm sure I've heard that name before, something about South Carolina rings a bell?’  
'Oh that would be my dad, Henry Laurens. He's a lawyer, quite a famous one, I think. I'm not really up-to-date on the politics scene; ever since Trump announced he was running for president I lost all hope.’ John replied, waving his hand nonchalantly, he appeared to be joking, yet behind his half-hearted laugh you could see he was being truthful.   
'Ah yes, I do know him, I'm the complete opposite of you it appears, I’m actually a lawyer myself. I work at the office block just around the corner!’ Alex replied sheepishly, worried that Laurens wouldn't approve of him now he's told him what his job is.   
'Oh really? That's a coincidence! My father has always tried to convince me to be a lawyer, but, as you now know, I'm not too keen on politics. I was more fond of the arts, personally.’ John smiled, again one big enough to melt the Grinch's heart, well, a certain Alexander Hamilton's heart at least. 

'So, what do you do then?’ Enquired Alex,   
'I’m an artist, I do my own thing and sell what I can with the odd commission here and there, I paint and draw most things, but I'm particularly interested in nature.’ Alex nodded intently, hooked on every word that came out of John's mouth, 'but when I told my father this, he wasn't best pleased, apparently I was a disappointment, disgracing the family name, etcetera etcetera, it was so relieving to have him off my back when he kicked me out and I was forced to move here to New York!’ and then pulled out an A4 sketchbook out of his green rucksack. 'These are some of my most recent drawings, I usually finish them off in here with a coffee but-’ John began before Alex cut him off,  
‘Obviously it's a lot busier than usual, but I do recall a trendy looking, hipster magazine recommending this place, so I guess that's why it's so popular’,  
'Well we really are in the place to be then aren't we? The centre of New York City, in a hip coffee shop!’ John giggled as he downed the rest of his coffee, and only then did he realise that, as usual, the name the barista wrote on his cup was ridiculously wrong. 'Look at the name, 'Sam Adams’, in what world does that sound like John Laurens, Alex?’ but Alex had zoned out, the way John giggled completely threw him off, he could tell he was bright red, but he couldn't handle how absolutely adorable he sounded, 'Alex?’  
'Oh yeah, sorry, I know right, I can't even read mine, what does it say? Something-Something… Miranda? How?’ he replied with a nervous laugh, quickly glancing down at the table, fiddling with the zip on his bag, doing anything to avert his eyes from Laurens 'You’ve literally just met him. Calm. Down.’ he reminded himself.

Desperately trying to, yet again, find something to say, he realised he didn't see John's drawings, 'Hey can I take a look in your sketchbook?’ he said as he pulled it over to his side of the table which wobbled under the sudden movement.   
'Of course you can, some of it isn't finished though, I haven't really had much time, the exact opposite of what i was expecting when I left two hours earlier than usual,’ he responded as he stopped the cups from tipping over edge onto the maroon carpet that spread out underneath all the chairs. Alex lifted open the book to be greeted with forest landscapes of towering trees and tangling vines, lakes with waterfalls casting rainbows over the fish and animals of all manners of species, most of all, turtles.  
'You certainly like turtles then, these drawings are absolutely beautiful! I've never seen landscapes this realistic!’ he complimented John, noting the way he flushed a pink colour making his freckles stand out even more,  
'They’re not that good’ he implored, 'which is probably why nobody ever buys them, and yes turtles are my absolute favourite animal, they're fascinating!’  
'Not as much as you.’ Alex murmured,  
'What?’  
‘No-nothing! Just thinking aloud, anyway, I can't believe nobody wants to buy them, they're outstanding!’ he tried to cover up what he said as he fiddled with one of the emerald ribbons attached to the book.  
'Well, enough about me, what do you do as a lawyer?’ said John.  
'Oh nothing much, just a lot of writing, I could go on and on but I'd just bore you to death’ Alex said as he looked back up to see Laurens staring at his laptop.  
'No please, I'd love to know, I've got nothing better to do anyway!’ he insisted.  
'I guess, if you really want to, so basically…’  
And so Alexander told John about everything his job entailed, as he slowly got more and more enthusiastic, John looked at him in an almost endearing manner, yet Alex didn't expect this, so he didn't notice it.


	3. I'll See Him Tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a new chapter! I apologize, I was on holiday and had no WiFi, this chapter's slightly longer, but still a bit short. I hope you enjoy, and as ever, constructive criticism is very much welcome!

Hours had passed before Hamilton looked at the time, he had been in the corner of this tiny coffee shop for almost the whole day, talking to Laurens about anything and everything, 'Oh, this place shuts in 5! I didn't realise!’ he exclaimed, scrambling for his belongings and shoving them into his worn rucksack.  
‘I’m so sorry! I didn't mean to keep you, I'm really sorry if you missed anything!’ John looked apologetically at Alex,  
'It’s fine, honestly, I had a day off!’ he tried to stop John from looking so worried, 'but if i did have work today, I would quite happily miss it to talk to you’ he thought to himself, blushing slightly.  
'Are you okay Alex? You've gone red.’ Okay maybe not slightly.  
'W-what? Oh! I just get hyper off coffee and I-uh- have a cold! Yeah, yeah I'm okay!’ he stammered.  
'Well we should get going, you should be at home or something!’ John started packing away his sketchbook and pencils (he was giving Alex art demonstrations) and he stood up, 'hopefully we'll meet again soon, I'll just come here earlier like usual, though I'll make sure to keep track of time.’ John offered Alex his hand to shake.  
'Yeah, I'm at work tomorrow but I'll always be here in the morning, see you tomorrow!’ he shook his hand, part of him wanting to keep hold of it, trace the freckles with his thumb and walk through the streets that were now gold in the twilight, but that would never happen, right?

The two of them left and went their separate ways, both looking forward to meeting the other the next day.

Alex arrived at his apartment, a small flat that, due to all the books he had amassed, seemed to have been frozen in time. Bookshelves lined almost every wall, filled with everything from law to war, particularly the battle of Yorktown (one of his favourite subjects at school was the American Revolution). When he entered he set down his bag and pulled out his laptop to begin preparing for work the next day. The desk was mahogany brown and its grooves filled with dust, the accompanying chair tired from being constantly sat on, Alex wasn't one to dust, he lived in his work, save for his trips to the coffee shop, anything else was pointless to him. When he began to type, he found that the only thing that came to mind was John, he tried to ignore it by closing his eyes, but he only saw flashes of him, his laugh, smile, voice, his art, he just couldn't ignore him. 'I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that I now have a crush on a man I've only known for a day, there's no way he'll ever love me either, I don't even know if he's gay! I'm an adult! I shouldn't be acting like a 13 year old, but here I am, well, at least I get to see him tomorrow…’ he pondered. Finally he managed to get back to working, writing non-stop until he heard birds tweeting and the first days of dawn peeked over the horizon.

John entered his own flat, chucking his bag towards the end of his bed; it was the complete opposite to Alex's dingy rooms, they were all open-plan and painted pastel blues, greens and white, plants of all shapes and sizes lined every shelf and what little wall was left was covered with paintings, most by John himself. His two favourite hung in his bedroom, one of Lafayette, one of Hercules. 'I should really meet them sometime, I haven't seen them in ages’ he thought as he realigned the portrait of Lafayette, it depicted him with a wide smile on his face, John remembered how he had just been told some joke or other and John knew he had to capture it in paint. As he sat down on his mint green bed he pulled out one of his many sketchbooks that he just happened to have lying around throughout the whole flat, he flicked to an empty page and set out his pencils. He started to doodle yet soon found that the only thing he could draw was Alexander, he likened his appearance to that of an owl, his tired eyes that were at the same time wide, gave a glint of wisdom, he drew him next to John in the forest, having a picnic, camping in the wilderness, he drew him side by side with various owls, particularly one from his favourite video game (John wouldn't admit it, but he was a massive Zelda nerd). He didn't know why an owl was the first thing that came to mind, it just happened, but then again, John tried to relate everything to nature in some way. He continued to draw Hamilton and his long, flowing- albeit greasy- hair and his smile that he noticed would appear every time John said something even mildly funny and- 'Wait a minute,’ John realised 'I, have a crush on Alexander Hamilton, a man I've only know for a day!’ he knew he tended to be a bit of a hopeless romantic, but it had been a while since he liked anybody liked that. He shook his head, as if that would make him forget his sudden epiphany 'I’ll sleep on this I guess, at least I get to see him tomorrow…’ he thought as he kicked his book off the bed and lay down, it took him til midnight before he finally drifted off, Alexander flooding his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter isn't that good, but I'll try, I've also realised I'm really bad at grammar. Also, did anyone like the Zelda reference? I didn't know whether it was worth it, oh well! I realise that the, well, realisations that they both have crushes are maybe a tad blunt and sudden but I'm not the best writer so I apologize!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was at least slightly good! If there are any grammatical errors please feel free to correct me! I hope to update this as regularly as possible but I'll just see how many people actually read this! Please tell me what you thought of this and hopefully I can make the next chapter better! Also I just realised how short this was oops, well, it's only an intro so it doesn't matter, right?


End file.
